461 Tolkien (J.R.R.). The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, 1st ed., 1st impression, pub. Allen & Unwin, 1937, ten uncoloured illustrations by J.R.R. Tolkien, advertisement at rear, map endpapers printed in red and black, one or two light spots and unobtrusive small marginal stains, small inscription neatly erased at foot of front endpaper, original green cloth, covers and spine with wraparound dark blue illustration of mountains, moon and sun at top, upper cover with Smaug illustration looking left, lower cover looking right, small hole and very small chip at foot of spine, one or two minor spots, edges very lightly rubbed, slight lean, top edges stained green, d.j., lower flap with misprint "Dodg[e]son" and publisher's manuscript correction, vertical tear along lower joint resulting in jacket splitting in two, approx. 3cm loss at foot, approx. 1.5cm loss at head of spine, tears and losses along folds and edges, some light marginal toning, 8voSigned by the author to front endpaper. J.R.R. Tolkien's award-winning fantasy novel was published on 21 September 1937, with 1500 copies printed, which sold out by 15 December. Originally concieved in the late 1920's-early 1930's to entertain his three sons, Tolkien recalled in 1955 in a letter to W.H. Auden: 'All I can remember about the start of The Hobbit is sitting correcting School Certificate papers in the everlasting weariness of that annual task forced on impecunious academics with children. On a blank leaf I scrawled: "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit." I did not and do not know why. I did nothing about it, for a long time, and for some years I got no further than the production of Thror's Map. But it became The Hobbit in the early 1930's...'. The book has gone on to sell an estimated 100 million copies worldwide since first publication and was never out of print. Tolkien began work on The Lord of the Rings in December 1937 after publishers George Allen & Unwin encouraged the author, against his inclination, to write a sequel. Hammond & Anderson A3.£7000-10000